Perseid meteor shower to shoot over the Northern Michigan skies

The annual perseid meteor shower arrives late this weekend into early next week.

Thu, 07 Aug 2014 14:44:16 GMT —

Stargazers are gearing up for the annual perseid meteor shower which will start Saturday night but peak early next week.

The perseid meteor shower is noted around the same time every year and it is one of the brighter meteor showers of the year. In fact, at peak there can be anywhere from 60-100 meteors/hour for those watching from a dark place outside of the city.

This shower is due to small debris particles from the comet Swift-Tuttle which enter the earth's atmosphere and quickly burn up lighting up the sky. The peak of the shower will be Sunday through Tuesday nights in the Northern Hemisphere and of course here in Northern Michigan. The only issue may be the fact that the moon is a waning gibbous, meaning it is in the phase after the full moon so that could keep the sky a bit lighter.

Either way, the further you are from city lights the best chance to see these meteors. You can certainly try your luck starting this weekend, but the peak will arrive Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday mornings with a good time to view them before dawn.

As for sky cover, the weekend looks pretty good with minimal clouds. However, a cold front front will approach the area Monday into Monday night perhaps leading to some clouds and even Monday night a few showers or thunderstorms. Still, it should make for some fun in the nighttime sky over Northern Michigan this weekend into early next week.